The agenda for the day was to visit a Danish Storyteller friend of Patti’s in a town about a two hours southwest of Copenhagen by train. We had now finally figured out how to buy a train ticket to go there which went easily. There was a detour on bus due to construction on the tracks.
Marianne met us at the train and we spent a nice time walking around the town. We also had a nice tour of her home and the extensive garden and yard.
We saw Granny’s Kids Place where a woman created her own children’s museum and play area. Patti enjoyed talking with the woman who was doing a story theatre show later in the afternoon. It is always fun to meet fellow performers. Patti had to try on one of the costumes.
Vordingborg has recently held a big celebration about The old Danish flag that fell 800 years ago. The town had been a site of power during those days.
We walked to the ruins of the Vordingborg Castle where we stopped at a restaurant and had a very nice lunch with fresh veggies and salmon. Delicious. We then walked around the castle grounds. Some of the walls are completely gone but others ranged to quite formidable. Much of the moat around the castle had been restored as well as the castle's tower. On the top of the tower was a golden goose, which was well known in Denmark.
We went the the bakery- and Marianne gave us a very thorough tour of all the authentic baked goods. We then picked some out and brought them back to her home for coffee, tea and treats.
We had such a nice visit and heard about her life as a storyteller and teacher in this small town. A great visit. And then a quick walk back to our train. Back to Copenhagen. We were getting pretty good at finding our way back “home”.
So the main order of the day: catch a flight back to Copenhagen. We decided to sleep in and check out of their apartment about 11. We could’ve tried to catch a tour or store our luggage, but instead it seemed best just to head to the airport. So walking back to the train station, we figured out the best way to get to the airport was by bus. We found out how to buy ticket, hop on the bus and by early afternoon we’re settled in in the very nice Stockholm airport. There we had a few hours of quiet time to nap, surf the Internet, work on photos, and just take our time in Sweden .
The flight to Copenhagen was quick, less than an hour. And when we got off the plane we found our way to the “kiss and fly zone “ where Lars and Julie were waiting to pick us up.
It’s really been so nice to have a home away from home in Copenhagen. We had a nice dinner prepared by Lars and Julie, we shared some stories of the week's adventure, and fell into bed.
We slept in. Wow, this trip has been so intense, filled with sites, fun, travel and time with family and friends. We were ready for a slower start.
After laying around and doing some laundry, we were ready to meet the day. Looking around the city we were always in sight of many of the city's towers and spires.
Patti had researched and found a free walking tour of Stockholm Old Town. One of our favorite things! We grabbed a little lunch at the grocery store across the street, and walked about 15 minutes to the beginning point. The next three hours, we gathered with other English-speaking tourists for a trip through history and old town, focusing on all of the kings who were named Christian. Stockholm is a very old city with it history that goes back to the 1300’s. One statue was notable to us: it was a tribute to the man who started the revolt against Danish rule in 1251. There was Gustav Vassa cocking his crossbow. There are many other stories to tell, and many king Christians. Our guide, who lives in Stockholm but was originally from Australia, gave us a really interesting view of things to see in the old city in Stockholm. The old city had many narrow streets, many had cars squeezing through. These streets included the narrowest street in the city, less than 3 feet wide at the top of a stairs.
There was one square that really got our attention. There were four buildings, each of a distinct color, which appeared in nearly every presentation of Old Town Stockholm. On the same square was the Nobel Prize Museum. We felt badly that we did not have the chance to go inside. We had visited the Nobel Peace Prize Museum in Oslo, Norway five years ago but would have liked to have seen all of the other prizes which are awarded in Stockholm.
Of particular interest was the royal palace where we were just in time to watch the changing of the guard.
An energy check showed we could spend the rest of the afternoon seeing a couple of Museums. We walked through the city, and then took a free ferry to the island where there were many museums.
The first one we visited was the Vasa Museum. This focused on a war ship that was built in the 1700’s. It was state of the art, and then sunk in its maiden voyage about 20 minutes from shore. It was so top heavy with cannons and got some water inside and quickly sank. It sat at the bottom of the harbor for 300 years. In the early 1960’s it was rediscovered and eventually salvaged. Due to the mud plus the low level of salt in the water, it was nearly perfectly preserved.
We started our time in the museum with a tour in English which brought us up close to the ship. The carving and details that we could see close up were amazing. Then we had a chance to walk around and see the ship more closely, as well as to see a movie about it. It really was an amazing place to visit. It was noted that if it hadn’t sunk, it wouldn’t be around now and wouldn’t be able to be viewed as we could do it today. A really interesting stop.
From the museum we went over and got some Swedish ice cream. Delicious, but the rain was starting to fall. Another time to check, should we just go back to the apartment? No, there were more adventures to be had.
We headed down the road to The ABBA Museum. There we had a much more lighthearted look through the 1980’s Swedish sensation musical group. We spent the next couple hours learning about each of the four singers and musicians. We learned about their individual histories and how eventually they turned into two married couples. The museum really made good use of interactive technology. Patti had the chance to be a blue screen video, get her picture taken in one of the costumes, and we listened to a lot of great sing-along music. We also got to see some of the actual props and costumes from Mamma Mia 2 movie. Really delightful way to end a rainy afternoon. Their tagline was you walk in and you dance out. It really was a nice time.
We took the ferry back, mistakenly thinking we were on another free ferry but as it turns out we were stowaways and hadn’t paid for something that you were supposed to pay for. Boy, the transportation part of this trip has been a challenge. Luckily, the nice guy collecting tickets told us he wouldn’t throw us overboard.
Back to the apartment but we decided to treat ourselves to a very nice Italian meal on the plaza below our apartment. Pricey food but the atmosphere was great and the rain had stopped. A great and kind of cool day in Stockholm.
We woke up early and hurried through breakfast to catch an early train out of Umea. Our time on the sheep farm had been lovely, and Stig and Elena drove us into town, and then saw us off on the train.
Then, we settled in for a lovely six-hour train ride south in Sweden down to the capital city of Stockholm. The train ride was a time for Patti to catch a little rest, and for Dick to drink in all of the scenery. He so enjoyed watching the trees, the water, changing landscape, the farms. He could also watch the train's speed on the speedometer at the front of the train car. It was a rainy, but nice day for a medium length train trip. The time went by quite quickly and soon we were pulling into Stockholm.
We had been in that train station before, so it was somewhat familiar, but we had to figure out how to get to our Airbnb about 2 km away from the station. There was a metro, there were buses, we could’ve taken Uber, but we decided why not walk? That was going be not that far, and with any of the other modes of transportation we would still have to walk a ways anyway. So we headed out walking. The farther we walked, the harder it rained. So we powered on through the increasingly hard rain walking through construction, over bridges, and went into the old town island of Stockholm. Once we got into the narrower streets in old town, we were getting less wet. We finally found our building, (with a Burger King on the corner,) and we were very happy to have arrived.
Our Airbnb host had sent very detailed instructions about how to use a variety of different lock key codes to get into the building, which was a little bit of a challenge, but we appreciated the detailed instructions. Then trudged up four flights of stairs to our loft apartment. We were so glad to get there and get out of the rain.
We had in a very smart move bought some delicious carry out food at the train station. So we settled in for the next 18 hours resting, drying out, eating food and getting some sleep.
Although we had tentatively thought we might do some exploring that evening, It was not in the cards. Hello Stockholm, see you tomorrow.
This morning we packed a lunch and drove about an hour away to Stig’s grandma’s house. This was in a small village that used to be a railway town.
Before the town, we stopped off at a small lake. There we went to a handmade wooden boat make by Stig’s grandfather. The boat spent its winter on the shore, but during the past month it was immersed in water so that the dried out wood would swell up and float. We watched while Stig bailed water out of the boat. We were deep in the woods, much of the ground was covered with lichen. This what reindeer eat when they come south from the Arctic for the winter.
We then went to Stig's Grandmother's home. She had passed away a few years back but the family still had access to the home. The gardens around the house still had a variety of lovely flowers.
We ate lunch in grandma’s old fashioned kitchen. We also got to take a look upstairs to see this true old grandma house.
When we got back to the farm, Dick helped shovel sand and gravel to help with the new porch. He grew up helping out in a farm and does not believe in just watching people work. Stig also went out and cut some hay that he will store for the sheep for the winter.
After a fine vegetarian dinner, (no smelly fish this time) we drove around trying to get a glimpse of a moose. No luck tonight, no moose. But we got to see more of the land around their farm. This included a hunting cabin built by Stig's grandfather. We learned about how many of the forests in Sweden have been farmed and devastated by the paper industry. The complex forests have now turned in monocultures of just one type of tree. There was a feeling of sadness about these trees.
We all sat up late talking about the changing climate and actions that can be made. It was very stimulating, but finally we realized we had to get up very early to catch our train to Stockholm. A great day.
We woke up ready to explore this traditional farm. A nice breakfast and then we were off for a hike in the woods. They own a lot of property and we enjoyed walking and having sights pointed out: scat from various animals, different types of birds, and so many interesting plants. We were on the lookout for a certain type of delicious mushrooms. Patti was good at spotting mushrooms, but we only found one of the good edible kind.
We saw poop from a moose and last year’s reindeer and even a discarded reindeer antler, which we later found out was no problem for Swedish airport security, so that is coming home with us.
We got to see the huge gardens where they grew potatoes and many other vegetables. They work at being as self-sustaining as they can.
We also got to see their sheep, although the sheep were quite shy and although they came when Stig called them, they were not interested in meeting us.
In the afternoon, Dick picked up a hammer and nails and helped to work on the front porch which they were rebuilding. He knows his way around a hammer. He proved himself a willing worker.
Patti got to see and then try “The Orca” a covered electrical bike which Elena rides part way to work most days. It was amazing and a bit scary as we tried to think of riding it on gravel roads in the rain. But Elena loves it! Part of her contribution to lowering her carbon footprint.
The main event of dinner was a fish known as “smelly fish”, with the real name being Surströmming. This fish in a swelling tin can which needed to be opened outside under water in a bucket because of the chance it explodes and the oder. The smell was quite nasty since the fish had begun to rot. We both were good sports and tried a small amount, but this appears to be a food that you have to be raised with in order to eat it. We appreciated the chance to try it and now can saw "we did it."
Luckily, Elena had prepared a lot of other really tasty dishes so no one left hungry. The leftover fish went into the compost pile for the birds to eat. They would be very happy.
More great conversation and then off to bed.
